Prosecution wants to amend three charges against Najib

KUALA LUMPUR - The prosecution today applied to the High Court to change the amount of money in three out of 25 charges faced by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, due to recent testimonies of two witnesses.

The two witnesses are Bank Negara Malaysia’s analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan and Assistant Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division ACP Foo Wei Min.

Deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar said the prosecution proposed to amend one of Najib’s four power abuse charges and two of his 21 money laundering charges.

He said for the power abuse charge, the prosecution wanted to amend the amount from RM49.9 million to RM44.6 million.

"As for the 21 money laundering charges, the prosecution wanted to amend the 10th charge which Najib was accused of committing by transferring money from unlawful activities, by reducing the amount involved from RM652.6 million to RM515.7 million.

"The prosecution also applied to amend the 21st charge involving the transfer of funds, by reducing the amount of RM12.4 million to RM11.4 million,” he said.

The prosecutor also submitted that the amendments should be allowed under Section 158 of the Criminal Procedure Code as it follows the principles of the law stated.

"My Lord, the discretion of public prosecutor to amend charges is unfettered and it can be exercised at any time during the trial. We submit that during the course of the trial, the prosecution can amend and lead evidence to the said amendments. In this case before Your Lordship, the amendment is made in good faith.

"The amendment to the charge does not have the effect of changing the nature of the offence or having the effect of opening up a new trial. We therefore respectfully submit, that the amendment will in no way cause any prejudice or disadvantage to the accused as the accused will be given every opportunity to mount his defence,” said the prosecutor.

Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah objected to the matter, saying that the defence team will need time to prepare a reply, and will be able to argue before the court tomorrow.

Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah then allowed the bid for a hearing of the charge amendment application to resume tomorrow and today’s proceedings continue with the hearing of an application dealing with the admissibility of documents.

Najib, 70, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. - BERNAMA